On Sunday, October 7th, a fact-finding exercise was held in good faith between parents of the Waubonsie Valley High School Students accused of burning “Quran” and representatives of Islamic Organizations namely: ICN Naperville, CIOGC and CAIR. I was invited to the meeting on a special request made by parents of accused students as a trusted community leader.
Please note: This was the first in-person meeting between the students and ICN/CIOGC/CAIR to find out the truth. There have been several one-sided reports on social media since September 26th that portray Naperville Hindu Community negatively.
I personally do not support or endorse the act of the students in any way. My statements are based on observations of the past two weeks after talking to students, their parents, community leaders, people whose sentiments were hurt and public.
Before sharing my observations, let me clarify why and how I got involved and how I was invited to the meeting. On Thursday, September 27th, I received a text from one of the parents of the student accused requesting help and guidance with an issue related to his son in Waubonsie Valley High School. The parents and students were visibly disturbed and hadn’t slept throughout due to fear and anxiety.
On further inquiry I was informed how a group of students bullied a high school student at Waubonsie Valley High school on Wednesday, September 26, 2023. I was briefed about the rumors spreading in social media resulting in certain organizations, students and public condemning the act of “Quran Burning”. I listened to the student side of the story and reviewed the original video in context.
Based on the first-hand information, I realized there was a disconnect between truth and what was out in social media. I reached out to ICN leaders and the School appointed mediator on Friday, September 28th to request a meeting between students & their parents with Islamic leaders and ICN to dispel any misunderstanding that existed until that point. My intent was to quell any heartburn or angst and anger coming out of rumors spread in social media by hate mongers without researching the facts.
After several follow-ups’, the first meeting between parents, accused students, CIOGC, ICN Imams, CAIR Attorney, CAIR Operations Manager and Me (Nag Jaiswal) was held on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
The following summary outlines general outcome of the meeting:
• The CIOGC President moderated the meeting.
• CAIR were represented by their attorney and operations manager. Parents and accused students were without any legal representation.
• Opening statements were made by the parents of accused students explaining their family values, their respect for all religions and how they raised their children with core values.
• Both the Students made opening statements and then were asked individually to explain their side of the story of actual events. Key questions and answers below:
o What happened?
▪ On a random summer afternoon (week after July 4th) two kids decided to burst firecrackers in an open field in South Naperville. After bursting firecrackers, they burned random trash including a book. They took some pictures, a few videos and went home thereafter. The entire incident was never discussed except once during a grad party at the end of July.
o How many students participated?
▪ Two students were involved in the incident. There was no one else in the vicinity per their knowledge.
o Was it preplanned?
▪ No. It was a random incident involving kids being kids on a summer afternoon.
o Is the burned book Quran?
▪ No. It is not, based on student testimony and video content.
▪ Students shared the video voluntarily to CIOGC and ICN Imams on request to check the authenticity. They vehemently denied the burned book is Quran.
o How did this turn into Quran Burning Accusation:
▪ The entire episode is speculative based on hearsay. Students at grad party could have spread the rumor. At this time no one is sure how the rumor spread without anyone having a video.
▪ The accused student was bullied and pressured by a mob of 40 High School Students on Wednesday, September 26th at 8 AM when he stepped out of his school bus to admit he burned holy book. He was surprised and in shock. He was confused how a random book burning incident turned into a Quran burning incident. There was no video in circulation until that point.
o Did the accused students post the video on social media?
▪ No. The students clarified that they did not make any social media posting of the video or made any comments about the book or incident in public or private.
▪ They also did not share the video to anyone willingly prior to the mob incident in Waubonsie valley high school.
o How did the video end up on social media?
▪ The video of the incident was requested from other students who were their friends after the incident that morning of Wednesday, September 26th. This was done in the pretext of making the event go away and getting closure.
Were the kids remorseful?
▪ The kids were very remorseful to their parents, fellow students, and the general community for their act resulting in general misunderstanding, anger and trust issues. Their random act of book burning turned into an extremely sensitive issue between different religions and the community
Personal Observations:
• I personally do not support or endorse the act of the students in any way. My statements are based on observations of the past two weeks after talking to students, their parents, community leaders, people whose sentiments were hurt and public.
• ICN and CIOGC leaders acted with great level of maturity and compassion by bringing all parties together and investigated the incident impartially on October 7, 2023
• Parents and Children acted with dignity and respect. They worked with school, community leaders, ICN and other leaders and were very remorseful for the incident.
• A private non-incident involving two kids outside school became a school incident, dragging school officials, community leaders, and several others due to rumor mongering.
• It is very unfortunate to see press releases, blogs, news articles with extreme reactions from public, religious organizations, political organizations, and community leaders.
• Press statements linking Hindu Religion with hate crimes without any formal investigation is very disturbing.
• One-sided reactions of a political party is resulting in Hindu-Phobia.
Conclusion: An interfaith leadership to bridge the current gap of the broader Aurora-Naperville community is urgently needed. Purpose of community leaders is to build trust and reduce communal tension. Mutual respect is key. One-sided statements should be avoided so that there is no further divide in the community.
